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| M.L.J. Johnson |
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I Can Read
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Completion Date:
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1995
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Medium:
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Sculpture
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Dimensions:
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n/a
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Location:
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East Flatbush Library
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Address:
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9612 Church Avenue, Brooklyn
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Architect:
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Roger C. Lewis and
Associates
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Sponsor Agency:
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Brooklyn Public Library
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Design Agency:
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Department of General Services
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For the East Flatbush
Library in Queens, M.L.J. Johnson has created a series of twelve totemic
structures, which form a pictogram, and a wall mural based on the phrase, I
Can Read
. The totems have images based on words or phrases and are all self contained, encased in roplex and acrylic viberessence to preserve the paint on the wooden structures. The artist has also painted the free-standing bookshelf and replaced the top with a wooden bird roof.
About the Artist...
M.L.J. Johnson was educated at New York Community College, New School for Social Research, New York University, Brooklyn College, and City University at Lehman College. He has extensive teaching experience, and is currently Art Chairman and Instructor at St. Joseph Regional High School and Adjunct Printmaking Instructor at Empire State College and College of New Rochelle. He received St. Joseph's Medal to create a commemorative mural of a patron saint. He was the recipient of the Art Education Achievement Award in 1973.
Artist Quote...
The optic nature of the Totems...commands the viewer's attention through configuration as well as optical vibration. The pictographic Totems metamorphose words or phrases into image. The images being optic, cross back and forth from word to image enabling the viewer to recognize the phrase or word transformed. -- Johnson, 1992
